The Iraq Vet: Patrick Murphy

Globe Pequot Press / Getty

Army Captain Patrick Murphy was patrolling
Baghdad's "Ambush Alley" in August 2003 in a humvee with no windows or
doors in 138 F (59 C) heat when he realized, I really need to change our
foreign policy. After seven months in Iraq, Murphy came home outraged at
what he viewed as a bungled operation; he blamed U.S. policy for playing
a role in the deaths of 19 fellow paratroopers. "We were dramatically
shorthanded," he says. "We should've had 35,000 troops for the 1.5 million Iraqis that we were responsible for in south-central
Baghdad, and there were only 3,500 of us." With just $322 in his bank
account, Murphy decided to challenge a popular Republican Congressman in
his home district northeast of Philadelphia in 2006. Murphy won by 1,518
votes. In Congress, he has championed fellow veterans, pushing a
deadline for pulling out of Iraq that garnered a White House veto. He's
worked to make U.S. contracting more efficient and to require telephone
companies to help soldiers retain their mobile phones while deployed
overseas. He endorsed Barack Obama in August 2007, though his district
voted 63% for Hillary Clinton months later. "He's got Senator written
all over him," says James Carville, a Democratic strategist. Murphy, 34,
just laughs off the buzz and notes that he has to get re-elected this
fall. "I've got a tough race ahead of me."